Headlight for toy vehicles



July 14, 1936. R ERICSQN 2,047,823

HEADLIGHT FOR TOY VEHICLES Filed April 22, 1933 IN VENTOR Patented July14, 1936 George R. Erlcson; St.

Louis. Mo., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Metalcraft Corporation, a-corporation of Missouri.

Application April 2.2, 1933, Serial No. 667,455

I V 9 Claims; It will be understood that this invention is susceptibleof many modifications, and accordingly, I donot wish to be limited in'myprotection, except as set forth in the accompanying claims. g

This invention relates to improvements 'in headlights for toy vehicles.It is an object of the invention to produce aneilicient and; reliableheadlight device for such vehicles at the lowest possible cost. Otherobjects of the invention will be apparent from the foliowingspecification and accompanying drawing, referring to thedrawing:

Figure I is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of a toy truck havingmy invention applied thereto. V

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1,the section being-taken along the broken line 2-2 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a detailviewtaken alongthe line 3 3 of Figure 2 showing asection of the front end of the truck. v The reference numeral Iindicates the chassis of a truck having a floor member 2, a hood}, and acab 4. An opening is formed inthe forward portion of the floor 2toreceive a removable support 5, which may be sprung into place.bycompressing the handles or flanges 6, thesupport member isformed'with outwardlyv projecting portions 1 to engage the oppositeedges of the open ing in the floor of the truck. The opening is ofsuitable shape and size' to receive a single dry cell 25 of the typeordinarily used for pocket flash lights. The dry cell is wrapped withthe usual insulating paper covering its cylindrical surface so that itis normally insulated from the support member 5.

The hood 3 is provided with outwardly extending lugs 8 which are struckup from the middle of the hood itself, forming openings I. A headlightsupporting member ll comprising a bent sheet metal strip of rectangularcross section is passed thru the openings l0 and insulated therefrom bymeans of U-shaped insulating material as indicated at l2. The ends ofthe member H are of substantially or at least partially cylindricalformation as indicated at I3, the inside diameter of the cylindricalportion being just 50 sufficient to freely receive the screw threadedbase of the headlight bulbs H. To serve inplace of a screw thread, asingle dent is made in the outside of the cylindrical portions l3thereby forming a corresponding projection on the inside of theseportions. The projection 15 enters the screw threadof the headlightbulbs and serves very satisfactorily to hold it in position. When thebulb is screwed into place, its central terminal l6 contacts the member8 and firmly holds the member II in position. 7 .5 The dry cell 25 hasthe conventional central terminal I! which is in position to contact aportion of the headlight support member H as indicated in Figure 2, andsince the member IT projects slightly beyond the end of the zinc cas- 10ing of the battery, it is not necessary to provide insulation betweenthe outer edge of the battery and the member H. The front end of thebattery is prevented from moving sidewise by the said walls of the frontof the hood. The rear of the 15 The battery is free to move forwardly orback- 20 wardly on the member 5 except as it is limited by the member IIand the switch 20, which extends thru the body of the truck and isprovided with a bent central portion 2! which may be moved against thebase of the battery by operating the 25 handle 22, thereby grounding thezinc casing of the battery of the body of the truck and forming acircuit thru the body of the truck, the members 8, the central terminalsI 6 of the light bulbs, the insulated light supports, and back to thecom 30 tral terminals ll of the dry cell.

The battery may be inserted or removed by first turning the switch tooff position and then removing the member 5 by compressing the flanges 6towards each other.

I claim:

1. A support for electric light bulbs comprising a sheet metal stripbent at each end into a partially cylindrical portion of suitablediameter to freely receive the screw threaded base of a 0 light bulb,and indentations in the outer surfaces of said cylindrical portions,said indentations forming corresponding projections on the innersurfaces of said cylindrical portions, said projections being adapted toenter and engage the screw threads of the light bulbs.

2. In a headlight device for toy vehicles, a sheet metal hood, havingopposite openings therein, said openings being formed by removing aportion of said sheet metal hood, the metal removed 50 from said openingbeing bent outwardly at the rear of said openings to form contactmembers,

a headlight support comprising a sheet metal I member of substantialwidth in comparison to its thickness, said sheet metal member being bentinto at least partially cylindrical formation at each end to receive thebase of a headlight bulb, means for insulating the front edge of saidheadlight support member from the front edge of the openings of thehood, projections on the inner surfaces of said cylindrical portions toengage the thread of the screw threaded base of said light bulbs.

3. In a headlight device for toy vehicles, a chassis member having afloor, an opening in said floor for receiving a dry cell, a supportmember for said dry cell, said support member being made of sheet metal,provided with hand-grip portions, and adapted to be sprung into or outof position to open or close the opening in said chassis, whereby thedry cell may be conveniently inserted or removed.

4. In a toy vehicle, a chassis member having a floor, an opening in saidfloor of suitable size and shape for receiving a battery, and a closurefor said opening, said closure comprising a pair of downwardly extendingparallel flanges, extending thru said opening and providing a hand-gripportion below said floor, the flanges of said closure member beingconnected by a concave central portion.

5. In a toy vehicle, a chassis member having a floor, an opening in saidfloor of suitable size and shape for receiving a battery, a closure forsaid opening, said closure comprising a resilient member adapted to besprung into position between opposite edges of said opening, and to bedetachably held in position in said opening'by its own resiliency, saidclosure having a hand-grip portion extending below the floor whereby itmay be conveniently opened.

6. In a toy vehicle, a chassis member having a floor, a hood mountedabove said floor and adapted to contain a battery, an opening in saidfloor beneath said hood, and a support member adapted to be mounted insaid opening, said support member comprising a pair of downwardlyextending portions extending into said opening and provided with handgrip portions below said floor, the parallel portions of said memberbeing connected by a concave central battery supporting portion.

'7. In a device of the class described, a sheet metal hood, a radiatorsimulation at the front end of said hood, an insulated transversecontact member extending transversely thru openings in said hood at therear of said radiator, an outwardly extending member formed of the metalremoved in forming said openings at each side of the front end of saidhood, a pair of headlight bulbs, each forming a connection between oneof said outwardly extending members and said insulated transversemember, a dry cell mounted in and completely enclosed by said hood, saiddry cell being removable thru an opening at the bottom of said hood, amovable support for the lower side of said dry cell, the forward end ofsaid dry cell being adapted to contact said insulated transverse strip.

8. In a lighting device for toy vehicles, a body structure comprising ahood and a radiator simulation at the front end of said hood, a dry cellenclosed insaid hood, said dry cell being insertable or removable thruthe lower part of said hood, a movable support for releasably holdingsaid dry cell in position, a transverse contact strip extending thruopenings in the sides of said hood at the rear of said radiator, themetal removed in forming said openings being turned outwardly to formoutwardly extending contact members, a pair of electric light bulbsforming electrical connections between said outwardly extending contactmembers and said contact strip,

one terminal of said dry cell being in electrical contact with thecentral portion of said strip, and a switch member for simultaneouslypressing said dry cell forward against said contact strip and groundinga terminal of the-dry cell to the body structure.

9. Ina toy vehicle, a body structure comprising a hood and a radiatorsimulation at the front end of said hood, a dry cell mounted in andenclosed by said hood, said dry cell being removable thru the bottom ofsaid hood, a movable spring device for normally holding said dry cellagainst the top of said hood,openings formed in the sides of said hoodat the rear of said radiator, the metal removed in forming said openingsbeing turned outwardly to form outwardly extending electricalconductors, a contact strip extending through said openings, electriclight bulbs connected between said contact strip and said outwardlyelectrical conductors, the central portion of said contact strip servingas a support for the central terminal of said dry cell and a switchmember for simultaneously grounding the base of said dry cell and movingsaid dry cell forwardly against said contact strip.

' GEORGE R. ERICSON,

